


Lux Et Tenebrae

by Xephin



Series: Lux Et... [1]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Gen, Implied Death, and other things, original minor characters I guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2014-02-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:39:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xephin/pseuds/Xephin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Xephos' planet and his daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cygnus

Xephos wakes to a dull metallic thudding coming from the front of his house. He sighs and contemplates ignoring it before he hears a distinct voice filtering through the door and echoing throughout his mind.

“Xephos! I need you now!”

His eyes snap open at the use of his name and he’s running through the large corridors, slamming his hand on the open controls before he can get a complete hold of his emotions. The doors separate with a mechanic hiss and a short figure is revealed before him. The woman fights for her breath as she hurries across the threshold and into the privacy of Xephos’ large house. She’s cradling a small bundle as close to her body as possible and her eyes seem to be glowing a more vibrant red than normal. It was almost impossibly bright. She looks up at Xephos with desperation evident in her eyes.

“They’re separating the city…” she gasps, though she’s sure that the man knows. “One side light, one side dark.”

Xephos nods as he leans on the steel wall. “I am the son of a well-respected general, I already know this. Is there a reason why you’re telling me this again when you knew I’d be asleep?” He forces his voice to be steady and formal. “And sneaking into a high district? Are you an idiot or do you have a death wish?” he says as calm as he would if he was describing the weather on Tenebrae instead. Of course, it would be below him right now to show emotion to somebody of an inferior class. 

The woman reaches out and tightly grabs Xephos’ arm with her free arm. “Take her, Xephos! I know you don’t care about what happens to be but surely you care about her?!” she’s desperate as she crowds in closer. “Please, please show some compassion and love for once in your life!”

“Let go of me,” he orders though his voice lacks the viciousness it needed to get the woman to obey him. He looked away from her. “I don’t know what you want but if you don’t start being respectful then I’ll have to kick you out in front of the whole city and let the military deal with you.”

“Take her.” She begs, her nails digging into his skin. “She wouldn’t survive in the darkness…sir,” her voice breaks in fear. “Nobody would.”

There’s a short moment of silence as Xephos turns back to the woman and glares at her.

“I’m a space pilot, not a baby sitter.”

There’s movement in the mess of blankets and Xephos clenches his fist to stop himself from looking at that small bundle in the girl’s arms. He had to stay strong; there was no place for the weak on this planet. Unfortunately for the woman, she was weak and so she and her child had to face the consequences. “It’s been decided by the government…you and her need to move…for the good of Tenebrae and the rest of the population.”

Her eyes are watering and she’s abandoned all pretences of respect. “You don’t believe that, I know you! Sure, you can deal with my blood on your hands -I’m just a lower class idiot who doesn’t know her place to you- but could you deal with your own daughter’s blood on your hands?” She says clearly and boldly, knowing for a fact that this is her last chance for her baby to have a future of light and happiness in a land of pain and darkness. “Take her and love her. Give her everything I can’t…please.” She stares at him as his eyes widen and his mouth hangs open.

At this point, Xephos is frozen in shock. The woman gently passes the mess of blankets to him, making sure he was supporting the small child’s head properly. “Please, for her.”

He’s not emotionless -of course not- so it’s taking a large amount of effort to hold back his own tears. “You sneak into districts banned for your kind…you call me by my family name instead of Sir in a sign of obvious disrespect…and you try to touch me…” he says shakily and takes a deep breath. He makes deep eye contact, something that surprises the other. “If she’s anything like you…she’s going to be something else.”

The woman sobs in relief and bows lowly, hands shaking violently. “Thank you so much.” She says quickly, her voice trembling before she straightens up and kisses the small baby on the forehead quickly. “Be good for daddy, Mira…” she whispers as tears fall, unstopped. “I love you so very much, I hope you will one day know that…that I did this for you…” She breaks down into full on weeping as she looks at her daughter for the last time. With another small bow to show her gratitude, she rushed towards the door.

“Cygnus…” The words are out before Xephos could even think about uttering them. The woman turns around, tear streaks staining her overly pale skin.

“I will love her more than she will think possible, I promise.” Xephos says with such determination that he shocks even himself. People like him don’t take a promise lightly.

Cygnus forces a smile and nods. “I know you will. You’ll be a great dad.”

“And…” The air feels heavier and Xephos isn’t sure how he’s still breathing or even still standing. Cygnus watches Xephos carefully, as if she’s studying every breath he makes and every twitch of a muscle. “And I did care about you, even though I didn’t show it. I’m sorry that I had to treat you like that…like this.”

“I cared about you too.” She lets out a small and probably forced laugh. “It was the way it was supposed to be, classes just aren’t supposed to mix.” She walks towards the door slowly before pausing for the last time. “You know, maybe this could have worked out if things were different, if life was different.”

Xephos returned the bitter-sweet smile. “Yeah, maybe.”

Without another word, she presses her hand against the control panel and runs out into the forever darkness. Xephos is left with just his racing thoughts and a small child that had just started wailing, as if she knew that she would never see one of her parents again.

“It’s okay,” he mutters, rocking her awkwardly as he punches in a code to lock the door. “I will look after to you, you’ll be safe…”

If he’s completely honest with himself he’s terrified and he has absolutely no idea how to look after or raise his daughter he had previously tried to forget. One look at Mira changes everything. She’s stopped crying and is reaching out, wrapping small chubby fingers around his own finger. Pride and determination fill his heart; he’d be damned if he breaks his promise to Cygnus. He was going to do this. He was going to be the best father he could be and absolutely nothing would stop him.


	2. Mira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xephos spends some quality time with Mira while tensions rise in the military.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On tumblr this is two parts but I put them together because why not? They were originally meant to be one chapter anyway.

“Daddy?”

“Mmmm?”

Xephos turned away from his stacks of urgent paperwork to face his daughter. She was grinning widely and had her hair tied up messily, something that Xephos’ mother and sister was sure to fix soon; they were obsessed with making Mira the perfect little girl.

Mira began to tug on Xephos’ arm. “You said you would teach me astro… astra…. Ummm…” She trailed off as she tried in vain to pronounce the word. “Stars! You said you’d teach me stars!”

He laughed and picked her up, setting her down on his lap. He undid the hair tie and carefully pinned up her hair in a way that the rest of the elite would see as ‘respectable’. “You mean astronomy?” he asked with a small smile.

“Yeah, that!”

Xephos glanced at his work with a frown; he really had to get it done. As the words “I can’t” were about to fall from his lips, he spied the hopeful look in Mira’s eyes from the corner of his own.

“It’s going to be cold so put on your coat!”

Mira squealed and jumped down from her dad’s lap, her eyes glowing a lighter purple. “Thanks, daddy!” she yelled as she ran out the study room back to her own room up the stairs. He smiled and stood up slowly to stretch, sparing one last look to the mess of papers. “Command will not be happy,” he whispered to himself before he shook his head and donned his favourite maroon coat.

They sat on top of their roof, legs dangling off the edge. The steel underneath them was even colder than the everlasting dark sky but they didn’t mind; it was rare that they could spend time together alone like this. Mira was tucked comfortably into Xephos’ side as he pointed at constellations that stood out vividly in the black sky and named some of the twinkling stars. When Xephos pointed to a certain one that seemed to glow brighter than the rest, she gasped and turned to him wide eyed. “Mira? Am I named after that star?”

Xephos shook his head with a small smile. “Pumpkin, the star was named after you.” He felt his heart lighten at the look of pure awe on his young daughter’s face as her jaw dropped almost comically.

“Really?”

“When you were born you was the prettiest and brightest baby to have ever been born,” he beamed, “So they decided to find the most brilliant, most marvellous, most dazzling star in the sky and name it after you. Of course…” he trailed off and pulled Mira closer. “It was nothing in comparison to you.”

Mira giggled and looked up again. “You called me pumpkin again.”

“So I did.” He laughed with her.

“Why?”

“Because when you were a baby you looked just like one.” He teased and gently poked her cheek.

She crossed her arms with a pout. “You just said I was a pretty baby!”

“You were, you just also resembled a pumpkin,” he said with a wink. Mira playfully hit him, which Xephos retaliated to with tickling.

“Stop!” she laughed, legs and arms flailing wildly in the air. “No fair!”

He kissed her forehead and pulled her onto his lap. They rested in a comfortable silence for a while, neither feeling the need to break the peace with pointless words. There was the occasional distant growl of the odd monster that lurked outside the tall city walls but apart from that, it was silent. Xephos was close to drifting off after a long and difficult day at work when a timid voice broke the quiet. “Daddy?”

Xephos held back a yawn and cracked open his eyes. “Yeah?”

“I…” Mira bit her lip to stop it quivering. “Promise you won’t leave me?” he voice cracked at the end as she began sniffling. Xephos froze and stared at his precious daughter with wide eyes. “Of course I will never leave you! Where did that even come from?”

“A kid in my class…. Altair…his dad went away…” she sobbed, holding onto Xephos tightly. At that moment, he couldn’t help but think that she looked so much like her mother. “I don’t..don’t want…” She could no longer speak as tears ran quickly down her face and stained his jacket.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” he soothed, rubbing her back in a calming manner. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

She nodded and buried her head in his shoulder.

“I promise you, I will always be here for you, always.” He began to stroke her hair gently until her sobs faded and her shoulders stopped shaking. Xephos felt a weight that felt a lot like guilt land on his shoulders. “Come on, Pumpkin,” he muttered as he picked her up, sparing one last glance at the city lights that hung like vines between the towering buildings. “Let’s get you to bed.”

\---

“We’re running out of fuel, Sir! Even you can’t deny that!”

Xephos winced at the harsh voice of a government official as he banged his fist on the table. “We need a solution, and fast.”

The elder at the top end of the long, dark, metal table stared at the other man with barely contained anger in his radiating black eyes. “If you speak to me in that manner again, then you will have your tongue cut out.” He stated in a calm but firm voice. The younger man slumped into a low bow and nodded frantically. “I apologise, sir! I just feel like this is urgent.”

The elder nodded. “Of course it is. Are you saying all we have done already has been nothing?”

“Of course not, sir!”

Xephos tensed as the man to the left of him stood up slowly and bowed. “If I may, sir?”

“Go on, General Xephos.”

Xephos’ father stood up straight as he addressed the leader of the military, avoiding eye contact with the eerie dark eyes that reminded Xephos of the dark sky. One glance and a shiver run up his spine and a feeling of dread invade him. “We may not run out of fuel if we use an unconventional method.” His voice was dead and Xephos looked up to his father, trying not to looked shocked or scared.

The leader looked interested, leaning forward slightly. “Unconventional in which aspect?”

“As everyone knows, the Demitto District is still inhabited. The inferiors lurk down there, polluting our land. Even taking away the lights from there has not solved the problem. I suggest we use this problem to solve our energy problem.” His father said as he barely hid his smile.

The room went silent as the idea settled into their minds. Xephos’ eyes darted around; surely nobody could be actually considering this? Deep laughing at the top of the table interrupted his thoughts. “That’s brilliant, Xephos!” The leader chuckled. “I knew there was a reason I put you in power.”

The man on Xephos’ other side began clapping. “Finally getting rid of the Demitto District and keeping the lights in one plan? Fantastic.”

Xephos could feel his hands shake. How could his father and co-workers think like this? He had to do something, and fast. He couldn’t allow innocent people to suffer. Before he could even think about it, he was on his feet and his chair hit the floor with a loud clang. “We can’t!”

The whole room turned to him. “Sit down!” his father demanded in a harsh whisper. “You’re making the family look weak.”

He ignored his father. “This is too far, we can’t do this!”

The man who had shouted at the leader at the beginning of the meeting began to laugh. “Well, of course Captain Xephos would have a soft spot for those savages.”

He froze. “W-what?”

“I mean,” the man continued, his eyes glowing a brighter green. “His bastard of a child is half savage.”

Xephos felt rage take over. “Take that back!” He yelled, barely able to hold back. He so desperately wanted to jump across the table and beat his superior to a pulp. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“It’s common knowledge,” he said with a smirk. “You’re a lover of weakness.”

His eyes flashed and just as he was about to attack, a tight grip on his arm pulled him back. He turned to his father who looked ahead.

“Now now, Procyon,” his father said with a superior tone. “I think we all know that you’ve done much worse. My son merely showed that woman who was boss with unfortunate consequences. You, on the other hand, go out your way to have somebody -even males- from the Demitto District in your bed.” He held back a smirk. “In fact, I think everyone’s heard how you like them to be superior in that aspect.”

Procyon spluttered and turned to the leader who curled his lip in disgust and looked towards Xephos. “Well, if you are so quick to pass judgement, Captain, then please do tell us a different solution.”

All eyes were on Xephos. He forced his hands not to shake in fear of the council and their punishments. One wrong word and he was dead, one wrong word and so was his daughter.

“Space.”

Mumbles and confused whispers filled the room and Xephos turned to face the military leader. “Give me a space ship and a crew and we will fly to a different planet to get fuel. This plan is a long term plan unlike Captain Procyon’s; this plan is more humane.” He finished his short speech with the lowest bow he could manage.

The leader leant back in his chair and folded his hands together. “Very well.” He said with an air of power. “I will give you what you want. Your deadline is 6 months. You are all dismissed.” He stood up and left the room in silence. Xephos’ father turned to him.

“You really think you can lead the space program?!” he yelled, pounding his fist on the table. “Only 3 people on the whole of Tenebrae know how to fly and you’re one of them!”

Xephos looked down to the ground. “I have to try.”

“You’re stupid, letting your feelings getting the best of you always. Even your sister, a woman, would have done a better job! If she can control her emotions, why can’t you?!”

“I will do this, father!” Xephos turned away from him. “I will make the best air force this galaxy has seen and I will complete my mission!” He said, voice shaking as the rest of the meeting left. “I will do this for her!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone confused, Xephos is the family name so both Xephos and his father is referred to as Xephos. Sorry if you were confused!


	3. Xephos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xephos tries to train his team and talks with Mira.

Xephos watched in silence as the new recruits ran to form a messy line. He sighed and stepped closer, wishing his soldiers were more competent. “So much for best of Tenebrae,” he muttered as they nudged each other out of the way and swore at each other in high and grating voices.

“Attention!” he barked, glad to see them all snap into position instantly. Xephos forced his face into a frown and crossed his arms behind him. He began to pace back and forth across the line, studying each of the boys intently.

“You have all been specially selected for this special mission,” he began, eyes flittering to a shy looking boy before he turned his head to glare at the rest. “I know not all of you chose to be here, in fact, I know most of you don’t want to be here at all.” Whispers filled the air. “However, you are all here now so I will train you all how to master the sky.” Xephos held up a hand and the whispering stopped. “First lesson: speaking without permission is not permitted; those who do will be punished severely.”

“Second lesson,” his voice was calm and clear as he commanded the attention of the whole group. “The ships are worth way more than all of your lives combined so remember that.”

He waited to make sure his hidden meaning had been absorbed before turning away. “Get your uniforms and meet at the storage in two hours. Don’t be late.”

They all bowed deeply before running off to their quarters. “Don’t you think you’re being too kind to them, son?”

Xephos looked down to the concrete floor to hide his scowl from his father. “You always think I’m too kind on people, sir.”

“And I will continue to do so until you grow a back bone and become a respectable leader like myself.” He turned towards the retreating forms of the new recruits. “For example, that wimp who was shivering should have been disciplined to harden him up. You can’t have weak men on the field.”

Xephos shook his head and stood up straighter. “I know how to train my men, sir. No offence but I don’t need your help. I’m not a little child anymore.”

And with those final words, Xephos turned around back towards his army base office.

—

Everybody had made it to the storage building on time, something that gave Xephos a slither of hope. Maybe he could actually reach the deadline. Maybe everything would be okay. He hid all emotion as he stood in front of them, arms crossed behind his back and jacket wrinkle-free. Beside him stood a shorter man who had short black hair and piercing dark green eyes. The group quietened as Xephos cleared his throat.

“Raise your hand if you know how to drive.” Xephos ordered, eyes scanning the small crowd. He was disappointed that only a third of the group raised their hands.

“Those of you who can drive come with me. Those who cannot should follow Captain Acamar-“ Xephos gestured to the man beside him, “and he will teach you how.”

The group split up and Xephos led them into the large garage-like building. He held back a laugh at the amazed gasps behind him. He remembered his joy at the sight of the humongous and magnificent ships that the army had ten years ago. Since then, the space ships had gotten even bigger and more grandiose. Xephos let out a rare smile as he approached the one in the middle. “This,” he declared proudly as he gently brushed his hand across the warm, shining metal. “Is my ship.”

He had a special place in his heart for the space ship. The metal it was constructed from was unlike the ordinary metal all the soulless buildings in the city were made from or the rusty metal of the shacks in the Demitto District. No, this metal was special. It shimmered like the stars that never seemed to light the eternal night sky and was warm under his fingers like the hugs from his daughter.

One of the privates raised his hand. When Xephos allowed him to speak, he asked, “Isn’t Cygnus a strange name for a space-ship? I mean, my father told me that they’re normally named after famous politicians?”

Xephos narrowed his eyes. “Are you insinuating I don’t know how to name my own ship correctly?”

“No, sir!” The young recruit panicked. “I was just wondering why it had such a unique name.”

He wanted to say how no politician deserved to have their name on a ship, how they were terrible people who did terrible things and were secretly just in it for the money. He was desperate to tell the group how the so-called politicians were just a front for the real rulers of the planet: the military…

But he couldn’t, no matter how much it pained him not to.

“Because all the good names were already taken.”

The private seemed pleased with the answer and bowed quickly before immediately straightening up. Xephos finally turned back to the whole group. “Now, flying is a lot like driving…”

—4 month later—

“Daddy!”

He closed the front door with a smile before he picked up Mira and spun her around.

“Hey, Pumpkin,” he said while bopping her nose gently. “Did you have fun with your aunt?”

Mira pulled a face. “She spent all day teaching me how to be a lady. She wouldn’t let me play with the rocket you made me!”

Xephos sighed gently. “Sorry. I know your aunt can be a bit…” he trailed off as he tried in vain to think of the right word before settling for “difficult.”

She giggled and wrapped her arms around Xephos to hug him tightly. “But you’re staying home tomorrow, right?”

“Mira…” he sighed again. “I need to tell you something.”

“Huh?” Mira tilted her head slightly as she was placed back down on the ground.

Xephos led her to her room and sat down on her neat bed. “I’m going to go away very very soon for about 2 months.”

Mira’s lip trembled slightly as she looked up to her dad with wide eyes. “W-why? When? Where?”

“Did I ever tell you about how the monsters stay away because of the city lights?” There was no point beating around the bush.

“Yeah?”

He set her down onto his lap. “The power we need to keep them on is running out. We need more power.”

She nodded. “So we’re buying more?”

“No,” he sighed, “The whole planet is running out.”

Mira gasped and covered her mouth. “Then the monsters will get in!”

“That’s why I’m leaving for a few months. The army is letting me take some friends and we’re going to another planet to get power.” Xephos smiled weakly to reassure her.

“And they will give you power?”

“Yes, they’re very friendly.”

Mira grinned. “And I can make friends! When are we going?”

Xephos sighed and rested his forehead on her head. “Mira, pumpkin, you’re staying here.”

“What?!” She pulled away and frowned. “You’re leaving without me?”

Xephos reached out to hug her but she moved away quickly. “You said you wouldn’t!”

“Pum-“ Xephos started but she cut him off.

“You’re going to be like Altair’s dad and leave forever!” she cried, wiping her tears away with her dress sleeve. “You promised you wouldn’t…” Mira couldn’t speak through her sobs.

“Mira, sweetie…” he whispered, reaching out to her again. “I’m coming back, I promise. I promised I would keep you safe and this is what I’m doing. I know it’s not what you want and I know it will be hard for you but I need to do this…” he bit back his own tears. “For you.”

Her body wracked with the barely contained sobs. “How… do you… know?” She asked cautiously.

Xephos let out a small smile and hugged her tightly. “Because I love you and I could never leave you alone.”

The room was silent as the sound of Mira’s sobbing died down while Xephos rubbed soothing circles into her back. Finally, Mira looked up at Xephos again.

“I know you will come back,” she whispered, as if speaking any longer would break what she was saying. “I love you, daddy.” She buried her head into Xephos’ shoulder.

“I love you too, pumpkin.” He muttered and held her tight.

He didn’t mention that he was leaving the next day.


	4. Merak

Early the next morning, Xephos snuck out of the house. He had left a small note on Mira’s pillow as she slept soundly and had already given specific instructions to his sister and mother as to how to look after her properly. “Don’t worry,” Xephos told himself as he stepped into the military base. “She’ll be okay and you’ll see her very soon.”

“Speaking to yourself, son?”

Xephos jumped before turning on his heels. “You really need to stop sneaking up on me, sir.” Xephos hissed unintentionally. He began to walk to the storage buildings with his father trailing close behind. “Are they all ready to fly?”

“As ready as they could be for quickly trained soldiers,” General Xephos said, his voice echoing strongly as they stepped into the building where their ships sat as menacing steel statues. “Look, son…” he trailed off and gripped Xephos’ shoulder to turn him around and face him. “You do realise how dangerous this is?”

Xephos, unsure of where his father was going, just nodded.

“And you do realise you could die?”

Again, Xephos nodded.

Xephos’ father let out a rare smile although it seemed strange and foreign on his face. “I want you to know that even though I don’t show it, I’m proud of you. I’m proud of the man you’ve turned into, the soldier you’ve become. I always thought you would grow up to be weak and cowardly but you proved me wrong. I know you let feelings control you but we can fix that, you could even take my place as General in a few years.” He coughed. “I thought it would be all over after the scandal with that child-“

Xephos’ heart broke at the mention of his daughter that he had all but abandoned this morning.

“-But look at you now! Running a space mission!” Xephos’ father paused as if remembering something. “Don’t mess it up, son. Don’t disgrace the family.”

Xephos didn’t know what to say. The surprisingly nice speech from his father may have been tinted with unrealistic expectations and slightly condescending comments but it was the closest he ever got to acceptance. Maybe the mission had brought them closer, past the rigid formality and into a warm and loving relationship.

“Thank you, sir,” Xephos whispered with a small bow. “I’ll make you proud.”

“I know you will. Get in your ship; I’ll get the others into position.”

Xephos bowed again before he climbed into the cockpit of Cygnus. He let out a deep, shuddering breath as he drove it carefully to the large concrete field they had specifically constructed just for lift-off. Xephos’ hands shook on the control panel as he drove. He moved to the front of the ship formation and turned on his communication gear.

“This is Captain Xephos,” he spoke clearly into the microphone, not allowing his fear to affect voice or his mission. “Is everybody in the correct position?”

The speakers cracked to life as command replied. “Yes, sir. You can take off now, sir.”

Xephos thanked him and switched the microphone to relay a message to the whole fleet. “This is the moment you’ve all been training for. Months of hard training have led up to this, the moment where you save Tenebrae and become heroes.” Xephos straightened his jacket and turned on the ship’s computer as he let the words sink in. As the display turned bright and began to display random pieces of code, Xephos uttered last words to his soldiers. “Make me proud.”

The engine below him rumbled and roared as he took to the sky, the ship rattling slightly as he approached the atmosphere. “Computer, raise heat shields,” he commanded, pulling the suspended monitor closer towards him to view the rapid calculations and formula that flashed across the screen. He pressed the large, blue button labelled “booster” on the control panel and the ship increased in speed, so fast that Xephos was so sure his ship would burn into a crisp. Luckily for Xephos, that didn’t happen.

“Report, now.” Xephos listened to the static crackle before a meek voice replied. “We’ve lost Tabit, sir. He crashed straight into the ground, sir.”

Xephos gritted his teeth; he was hoping there would be no deaths on his mission. “And that’s our only loss?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Carry on the mission as normal, private.” Xephos turned off his microphone and rested his head in his hands. He could do this; he had to. 

Not much happened in the next few hours. Xephos had finally began to feel confident again as they flew through the void of space to their destination, a small planet on the outskirts of their small solar system. The scientists back on Tenebrae were convinced that it was abundant in a smelly goo-like substance that could burn for days and Xephos was determined to get it, no matter the cost.

“Command to Captain Xephos, do you read me, sir?”

The voice startled him and he leaned over the console to answer into the microphone. “I read you. What is it?”

“3 large and unidentified ships have been sighted about 3 miles away from you. You may want to tell your fleet to form a battle formation.” Command said, sounding particularly nervous. “Sir…I don’t want to alarm you but they seem to be armed heavily.”

Xephos swore under his breath and contacted the ships closest to him. “Move into formation Alpha, tell my father to move to the front of the formation.” He commanded as he flicked switches and pressed buttons on the dashboard. “Get ready for battle.”

“Yes, sir!” the voice shook but sounded determined. “We will defeat them and make you proud.”

Xephos sighed. “Okay, but just don’t do anything stu-“

He was cut off by the sound of an explosion and then a loud scream before the crackle of the soldier’s microphone died out. He sat there in horror as a ball of fire that he was sure used to be a ship shot past his tinted window.

“Formation Alpha! Now!” He shouted to the rest of the soldiers but it was too late; they had begun to panic. “Listen to me! Formation Alpha!”

There was another bang and a scorched ship passed dangerously close. Xephos growled and nosedived, narrowly avoiding what appeared to be a cannon ball.

“Computer, fire main guns!” He yelled as the ship automatically locked onto an enemy ship. “Don’t let them shoot another ship!”

The sounds of screams from his men drowned out the high-powered guns and Xephos could feel tears form in his eyes. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Finally, the ship he targeted began to drop towards a nearby planet and Xephos sighed in relief. He grabbed the microphone in shaking hands.

“How many are left?”

The speakers were silent.

“How many?!”

A terrified soldier answered the call. “N-nine ships, s-sir” he stuttered. “Including your father’s ship.”

“Okay, what’s your name, private?” Xephos forced himself to ask gently to calm down the panicking soldier.

“Merak,” he whimpered.

“Okay, Merak.” Xephos turned his ship just in time to avoid crashing violently with the remains of his once large fleet. “You need to listen to me. Turn back and tell the rest of the soldiers to follow you. I’ll hold them off.”

“What about General Xephos?!” Merak cried. “He’s our best fighter, he should stay here!”

Xephos growled. “No, he’s going with you too. Don’t disobey me, Private Merak!”

“Yes, sir!”

The line was oddly peaceful for a moment before the soldier began to speak again. “And Captain Xephos? I just wanted to say that you were the best leader we’ve ever had.” Merak said softly. “I hope we made you proud.”

“You did, soldier.” Xephos drove towards the remaining enemy ships as the rest of his fleet fell back. “Tell my father to look after Mira like I would have done.”

The speakers cracked loudly again as another voice joined the conversation. “You don’t need to tell me this, son. You’re going to get out of this alive!” The familiar voice of his father boomed. “Now fire your guns again!”

“I told you to go back, sir!”

“I don’t take orders!”

Xephos nearly froze in shock but a cannon ball speeding past him snapped him back to reality. “Okay!”

He commanded the computer to lock onto the most damaged ship out of the remaining two and began shooting, unrelenting in his fire. He held back a cheer as the enemy ship stalled before it too fell to a nearby planet. “Only one left, fath-“

Xephos was cut off as a cannon ball blasted into the side of his ship with a mighty smash, shattering the left engine and setting off the screeching alarms. He tried to call to his father for help and warning but his microphone no longer got a connection.

“Spaceship crashing,” The monotone voice of the computer rung out through the cabin. “Prepare for impact.”

Xephos gritted his teeth together and tried in vain to pull the nose of the ship back up as it dove towards an ominous looking planet. “I know that! Can’t you tell me how to fix it?!”

“Calculating…”

The sound of alarms rang constantly as the ship sped towards the surface, fire beginning to blaze through the cabin. “2 minutes to impact.”

He let out a frustrated growl while jabbing at a series of buttons. He silently began to pray for his daughter’s safety. “Turn on emergency protocols!”

“Captain Xephos, I am afraid to inform you that you do not know all the-“

“Just do it!”

“Very well. Initiating emergency protocols now.”

Xephos let out a horrified cry as he saw his father’s ship spiralling away, smoke billowing out of the engine. He expected the ship to pull up and do a fancy trick that his father had always been able to do and yet Xephos never could.

It never did.

“The distress signal has been issued.” The robotic voice said, barely audible above the alarms and sirens that seemed to be getting louder and louder until it echoed inside of Xephos’ head. “Saving data to the black box.”

He leaned back in his chair. There was no way out of this. He was going to die in a fiery explosion on a planet he didn’t even know the name of. He was never going to see his precious Pumpkin again or hear her unique laugh as he tickled her.

“Now commencing memory wipe.”

Xephos’ fists slammed down on the controls and his head snaps up to the main monitor. “What did you just say?!”

The monitor flickered and showed a document on the screen, the seal of the military posted over the top.

“Memory wipe is a standard protocol for any high priority ships that crash or get seized. The army cannot have important information that you hold carelessly being given to the enemy.” The control panel under his fingers began to heat up and burn his fingertips.”

“I don’t care! Turn it off! Override emergency protocols!” he yelled desperately.

“You do not have the authority-“

“I’m a Captain! Turn it off!”

“You do not have the authority.”

The sirens got louder and were joined by Xephos’ sobs. “Please don’t do this; I can’t forget her, please.”

“Memory wipe, initiated.”

Xephos felt tears roll down his face as he thought about Mira and the promises he could never keep. “I’m sorry, Pumpkin.” He cried as he tried in vain to hold onto the memories. “I failed you.”

“Impact in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…-“

The ship exploded as it hit the ground and everything went black.


	5. Honeydew

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold is when Xephos is speaking his own language.

Crashing, burning, fire, screaming.

More screaming.

Who was screaming? Was it him? Why was he screaming?

Pain, lots of pain.

More screaming.

And then…

 Light.

Xephos’ eyes fluttered open before scrunching shut. Why was the sky so bright? Something deep in his mind told him it was wrong but he could tell himself why.

“Friend? Are you still alive? Are you hurt?”

Xephos cracked his eyes open at the strange language and unfamiliar voice. The words were choppy and disjointed, unlike the smooth and flowing language that flowed through his mind. When his sight cleared, he saw a man that looked like him but much shorter and ginger instead. His eyes were dull and brown. Why didn’t they glow like his? He held a weird tool in his right hand and Xephos tensed at the sight of it. It looked dangerous enough to rip him limb from limb.

“Friend? Are you okay, friend?”

Xephos scrunched his eyebrows together tightly. Friend? Was that a greeting? He seemed to be saying it a lot; maybe it was polite to end a sentence with it? Xephos coughed to clear his lungs and sat up slowly.

“Friend?” he croaked, hand searching for a weapon in case the weird ginger alien attacked him.

The small alien laughed and Xephos relaxed; he didn’t seem like the enemy. “Yes, I’m friendly. Are you okay? Do you need water? Food?”

When Xephos just stared, the small stranger handed him a glass bottle of water. “Drink this, you must be thirsty.”

He had no idea what the man just said but he needed something to hydrate himself before his headache got worse or his throat got too dry. Xephos felt as if he had hit the ground very hard. His hand shook slightly as he took a small sip, causing some water to spill on his red shirt. As he looked down, he saw a gold name-tag pinned to his uniform shimmer in the sunlight. “ **Xephos…** ” he muttered to himself. “ **That must be my name.** ”

“Whoa, I think you’ve hit your head too hard, friend. You’re not making any sense!” The stranger said with a small frown on his face. Xephos didn’t know what to do so he just nodded. “ **Great, so if you could help me find a way back home –where ever that is- then that would be great** ,” he muttered and then added as an afterthought, “friend.”

The alien smiled slightly and held out his hand. “Ahh, I get it, you don’t speak English. You’re not from around here, are you? Well, I guess that explains the crashed spaceship.”

Xephos just felt so frustrated. His head still pounded, his ribs hurt (he was pretty sure they were bruised), he had no idea where he was, he only knew his name, and he was so sure there was something important he was forgetting. “ **Look** ,” he stood up on weak legs and the size difference between him and the strange man became even more apparent. “ **I’m assuming that’s my ship.”** He pointed to the smoking pile of debris that barely resembled a spacecraft on his right **. “If so, then I must have crashed here and as you don’t understand me then obviously I’m not from here. If you could just show me where I can find help then we can both go our separate ways and not have to have this ridiculous conversation that’s getting nowhere** , friend.”

The small stranger just listened to the strange babble of tones and pitch flow until Xephos was finished. “Okay, I guess we’ll have to do this a different way,” the stranger mumbled under his breath. He pointed his index finger at himself. “I’m Honeydew,” He enunciated. “Ho-ney-dew.”

Xephos quirked up an eyebrow. Was the strange man-like creature trying to tell him his name? “Honeydew?”

Honeydew smiled and nodded. “Yes! I’m Honeydew.” He pointed to Xephos and jabbed lightly at his chest, causing Xephos to stumble backwards. “Your name is? You are?”

“Xephos.” He said, unsure. “ **At least, I think it is.”**

“Xephos?” Honeydew asked, the name sounding weird and foreign on his tongue. “Cool name! Very alien-y.”

Again, Xephos just nodded.  **“Well at least we’re getting somewhere.”**

Honeydew laughed. “I have no idea what you said but I’m guessing you want food? You must be hungry after a bloody space crash!” He joked, slinging an arm around Xephos. “You can come with me, Xephos. I’ll get you food and you can stay at mine.”

Xephos allowed himself to be dragged into a place with weird, tall, green structures that seemed to grow towards the sky. He didn’t know why but he felt he could trust the man. Suddenly, Xephos froze and let out a scream.

**“What on Tenebrae is that?! Quick, kill it now!”** he shouted, backing up and hiding behind Honeydew. The smaller man laughed and Xephos stared at him in shock. How could someone be so calm in front of a horrifying beast like that?

“Calm down, Xeph’! It’s just a pig…a cute little piggu!” The dwarf squealed and picked it up, squishing the strange, pink creature to its chest. “Look, pig. Piiiiig.” He said slowly.

“Pig?”

Honeydew smiled and nodded. “Pigs are for food but we have plenty of food back at my base, come on.”

Xephos narrowed his eyes at the pig in suspicion before Honeydew began tugging his arm again. “Come on, it’ll get dark soon.”

By the time they reached a small hut, the sky was a mix of bright reds and oranges that took Xephos’ breath away. He felt he had never seen something like this, not even when he could remember everything.  He followed Honeydew into the hut.

“I’m sorry I don’t have another bed, friend, but these blankets should do for now.”

Warm looking material was thrust into Xephos’ arms and Honeydew sat him down next to a fire. He watched carefully as Honeydew began to cook some meat, his stomach rumbling.  **“What’s this?”**  he asked, pointing to an item to the left of Honeydew. Honeydew looked over and smiled. “Bread. You can put meat on it and it’s delicious. Here, have some.”

He placed the now cooked meat onto the bread and passed it to Xephos. “I think you’ll like it.”

Xephos took a cautious bite and chewed slowly. He let out a small groan at the taste. Honeydew just laughed and ate his own food as they sat in silence for a long moment.

After a while he asked, “Are you tired?”

The spaceman looked up, tilting his head in confusion. Honeydew stood up and walked sluggishly to his own bed. He smiled again as Xephos lay down on the floor and pulled the blankets over himself. “Goodnight, Xephos.”

“ **Goodnight,** friend.”


	6. Lalna

It had been around 3 years since Xephos’ violent crash into Minecraftia and he could not remember being happier. Thanks to Honeydew’s constant help and unconditional friendship, he was all but fluent in the language and he had somebody to care for and somebody to care from him. They had travelled and adventured, meeting new people along the way including a young scientist named Lalna. In fact, they had even started a company together making something that Honeydew liked to call “Jaffa Cakes”. For Xephos, life was perfect. However…

“Hey, Xeph’, where did you put the quarry?”

Xephos glanced up quickly from the machine he had been absentmindedly tinkering with to meet Lalna’s eyes. “Did you check the chest in the workshed? I told you I put it in there this mor-”

Lalna shouted his thanks before leaving the partially built factory to retrieve said quarry. Xephos let out a long, suffering sigh and returned to his work.  A few minutes of silence passed so it caught Xephos by surprise when Honeydew tapped his shoulder Honeydew seemed concerned as he sat down with care next to where Xephos had plonked himself on the floor.

“Are you okay, Xephos? You seem…I don’t know…sad?”

A small smile appeared on Xephos’ face. “Why would I be sad? I have everything here that I could ever want.”

Honeydew put his arm around his friend the best he could and pulled him closer. “Look, you can tell me anything, we’re friends, right?”

“Of course!” Xephos nodded before letting out a sigh. “But it’s stupid.”

“Xephos…” Honeydew’s voice held a warning.

“Okay, okay.”

“Tell me, please.” Honeydew batted his eyelashes to lighten the mood, hoping to make Xephos laugh or at least smile. He grinned when Xephos let out a small chuckle even though the laughter died down as Xephos turned to look at him.

“It sounds silly but sometimes my heart hurts.” Xephos saw that his friend was confused so he carried on. “I really love you and the factory, friend, but it feels like something’s missing. I’ve tried everything to get rid of the feeling but every time I try to think harder about it, the pain gets worse and I have to stop.” His voice drifted off towards the end as he looked towards his fidgeting hands that rested on his lap. “I’m sorry, I told you it was stupid.”

Honeydew shook his head. “It’s not stupid, I promise. Maybe you miss going on adventures? It’s been a while since we’ve been on one.”

Xephos smiled weakly and nodded. “Yeah, maybe that’s it.”

“Or maybe you need a new hobby?” Honeydew asked as he rose and brushed dust off of his pants. “Hey, you should take up gardening. We could do with some pumpkins and melons around here.”

 

 

Xephos’ heart froze but he faked another smile. He felt like crying. Why did it feel like he couldn’t breathe every time he saw or heard of a meaningless pumpkin? “Yeah,” he replied, voice shaking slightly. “That sounds great, really great.”

He wasn't sure if Honeydew noticed the tremble in his voice but if he did he must have ignored it as he just clapped Xephos on the shoulder and walked outside to tend to a lone pig. He let out a deep breath and rested his forehead on the cool metal. “Pumpkin,” Xephos hissed to himself, before working on fixing the machine again. This had to stop soon, right?

 

Honeydew waited until he was sure wasn't watching before he walked into the work shed and up to Lalna. “We need to talk.”

Lalna turned around and raised an eyebrow. “Am I fired? Because that crater was from a creeper-“

“No,” Honeydew sighed, rubbing his face. “It’s not that.”

“Oh, then what?”

Honeydew shifted his weight. “We should go to space. You’re smart, you could get us there.”

Lalna frowned. “I don’t think anyone’s gone to space before, well, not from Minecraftia.”

“But it’s possible!” He said with desperation. “We could do it.”

“Why do you want to go to space so bad?” he said gently, not wanting to upset Honeydew in the state he was currently in. “I could build you a telescope if you want to see stars closer.”

Honeydew shook his head and stepped closer, resting his hands on Lalna’s shoulders and squeezing as if it would get his point across faster. “No, we need to actually go. I don’t think seeing it would be good enough.”

Lalna stepped out of Honeydew’s grasp and frowned deeper. “Honeydew, where is this coming from?”

“It’s Xephos,” Honeydew sighed as he leant against the shed wall, one hand scratching his beard. “I think he’s homesick.” He began to pick at his belt and looked at everywhere but Lalna. "I'm scared for him. He's never been like this before and I miss the old Xephos."

Lalna nodded slowly and put down the quarry back into the chest he had got it from. "Yeah, I've noticed that. Maybe he's lonely?" He whispered, afraid of Xephos overhearing their conversation. "We could always introduce him to Lomadia."

"I don't think he's into Minecraftian girls." Honeydew replied, amusement laced in his voice. Lalna just waved dismissively.

"Fine, I think Sjin was into him anyway."

Honeydew couldn't help but laugh. "I meant he was into girls from his own planet, idiot."

"Oh," Lalna blushed slightly before shaking his head. "Okay, point made. Couldn't hurt to try though."

Honeydew's laughs died down and he was suddenly serious again, a rare sight for Lalna. "No, he's homesick, I know it. I've spent a lot of time with Xephos and when he remembers a small piece of information about his planet he justs..." Honeydew trailed off.

The scientist's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Remembers?"

"His memory was affected by the crash," Honeydew explained, voice low. "When I found him he didn't even remember his own name and I don't think he would have if he didn't see it on his old uniform. Through the years his memory has slowly recovered but I think a lot is still missing."

There was an awkward pause as Lalna processed the new information. "So would he remember the co-ordinates of his planet?"

There was a small beat of silence before Honeydew grinned widely and ran up to Lalna, hugging him tight. "You'll do it?!"

"I'll try but I can't promise everything. We'll need a lot of materials so-" Lalna was cut off by Honeydew's grip around his waist tightening. "Can't breathe!"

Honeydew let out a joyous laugh. "You can have all the materials you need!" Lalna couldn't help but join in with the laughter once his airflow was no longer restricted.

"What's with all the laughing?"

Both men turned to the door to see Xephos, a broken machine resting on his hip. "I thought you guys were setting up a quarry?" Xephos asked, eyebrow's furrowed in confusion. He walked past them both and dumped the pile of metal on the floor. Honeydew shared a quick look with Lalna.

"Lalna was, umm, just saying he had an idea," Honeydew said quickly, silently begging Lalna not to say anything?"

"An idea?" Xephos still hadn't turned around, too busy glaring at the shattered machine.

Honeydew began to grin again. "Space."

Xephos froze before finally turning to face Honeydew. "Space?"

"He thought it would be cool to see the stars," Honeydew explained, stepping forward and giving Xephos a one armed hug. "Plus you could tell us all about the stars."

He didn't know what to say. On one hand, Xephos was ecstatic at the thought of being in space again and being able to feel the freedom he barely remembered. On the other hand...

Why wouldn't the pain in his chest go away?

"That sounds great." Xephos said, voice tight. He was telling the truth this time, it really did sound great. The others may not have known it but it was the best present they could have ever given Xephos. "Thank you."

Honeydew smiled up at Xephos before going to grab his pickaxe. "Come on then." He chuckled. "Better get started mining if we want to go to space during this lifetime."

With those words, he left the shed to go to the mine. Xephos turned to Lalna who seemed to be nervous. "Are you okay, friend?"

Lalna nodded. "Yeah, just wondering where to get blueprints from, I have no idea what to make a spaceship out of."

Xephos didn't really believe Lalna but he didn't push it. "Aluminium is great for ships as it's lightweight." He wasn't sure how he knew this but he carried on. "Though you should use an aluminium alloy to reinforce it as that's stronger. I would say use titanium but I've not seen that in this world."

Lalna just stared at Xephos as he continued.

"Reinforced carbon on the nose of the plane would act as an insulator which will be needed due to the air resistance which would generate heat. We'll also need a catalyst to convert the carbon dioxide we breathe out back into oxygen. This has its issues though as-"

"Xeph'."

Xephos blushed as Lalna laughed at his tangent. "Sorry, I got excited."

Lalna nodded and smiled at Xephos. "Me too. Now go on, I think Honeydew's expecting you in the mine."

Xephos spared one last glance at the ruined machine but found he no longer cared that he had lost his temper on it. Who could care about something so trivial when they were going back to space? When they were going back home? Certainly not Xephos. He walked out the shed, hoping Honeydew had a spare pickaxe and feeling lighter than he had in a while.

And yet, his heart still felt heavy.


	7. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xephos has trouble as he remembers things he shouldn't.

Mining started almost instantly, all thoughts of the Jaffa Factory abandoned in favour of their space programme. Honeydew found he didn't mind much, the smile that was on Xephos' face was worth more than all the Jaffa Cakes in the world.

Honeydew smiled to himself as his pickaxe dug into the stone of the mine shaft walls.

"I think we'll have enough iron to make the frame and engines soon," Lalna said, holding up a piece of ore by a torch to inspect it. "Once we find a metal light enough for the panels and something for heat proofing then we'd be ready to go."

Xephos nodded and placed some diamonds in a chest next to him. "That may be difficult; I don't see many materials that could be used for that."

"Maybe we could find your ship and fix that up to fly, or at least take parts from it. You said you crashed, Xephos. Do you remember how bad it was or anything, it could be helpful, you know?”

Lalna trailed off as he glanced back at Xephos, the spaceman’s face frozen. “Xeph, are you alright-” He began to say, before Xephos crumbles to the ground, his hands flying up to press against his forehead.

His breathing was heavy, his teeth gritted as he cried out in pain. “T-The ship,” He mutted, twisting as memories rush back to him. “The ship, it was crashing, and it had to-” Xephos groaned before curling up into a tight ball, “What did it do, fuck, what did it-”

He looked up, his eyes still closed, “It was crashing and I knew things and I couldn’t and I had to have like memories wiped and it did, the ship did, it-”

Images flashed across his mind and distant sounds rang in his ears. A girl with purple eyes smiling up at him, large buildings shrouded in darkness, small fairy lights draped everywhere, a women with tear stained cheeks begging him for something…

 

Shouting from his friends dragged him from the images. “Xephos!”

Xephos shifted, trying desperately to stop the pounding deep in his brain. “They wanted, no, they needed something and I had to get it and- Ugh!” Xephos pulled at his hair in frustration. “I know it, I know it, why can’t I remember?”

He could feel Lalna and Honeydew close to his side, feel their worried expressions through his closed eyes, their words blurry in his mind. “Shh, Xephos, relax, it’s okay. You don’t need to remember everything now, just relax, we’re right here.” Honeydew’s words were quiet, his hand placed firmly on Xephos' shoulder.

Xephos’s eyes flew open, his head slamming violently against the wall as he jerked up. “I can’t- I can’t believe I- I forgot about her,” Xephos choked out, tears flowing freely down his face. He grabbed Honeydew and hugged him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder as sobs wracked his body.

"Her?"

"Mira-" he sobbed. "Oh god, Mira."

Lalna attempted to console him by placing a gloved hand on Xephos' arm but it didn’t seem to be effective. “Xephos, calm down and tell us what you’ve remembered.”

Xephos shook his head, small whining noises leaving him. “Everything.”

"Xeph', please," Honeydew pleaded, carefully removing himself from his friends tight grip. "Start from the beginning"

"My father…my crew… They’re all dead and it’s my fault." The words were followed by more sobs. "My planet needed me, she needed me."

Honeydew looked to Lalna for help but Lalna looked as lost as he did. “Leave the mining stuff and help me get him to his bed.” Honeydew muttered to Lalna, removing the pickaxe from his belt and leaning up against the wall.

 

Lalna nodded and positioned one of Xephos arms around his neck to help drag the man upstairs and out of the mine. Honeydew did the same as he listened to Xephos' constant babbling about the dark and names Honeydew didn't recognise. The walk seemed much longer with the added dead weight but it wasn't long before they reached the factory grounds.

"Sit down, friend," Honeydew said gently as they approached the work shed and then the beds. Xephos did what he was told as if on autopilot and Lalna went fetched a glass of water. He passed it to Xephos who muttered a small "thank you" and took a sip.

"Okay, now calmly tell us what you remember."

Xephos nodded and began to talk, his voice hitching.

“I had a family, a daughter. Her name was...shit.” Xephos gripped at his hair, tugging it roughly. “Mira! Her name was Mira! I...I had to leave her for something, a mission from the planet. The planet was dark as night all the time and I had to fix that...I think."

He sighed again, wishing he could remember clearly. "I had a crew, including my father. I can’t remember my father much apart from a small conversation with him before we set off for the mission. I think he was a fair and just man. I don’t remember my mother at all." He said with a deep frown. "Xephos was the family name, my name isn't even Xephos."

Honeydew opened his mouth as if to say something but Xephos continued to speak.

" My ship, it had a name…Cygnus. I called it that because the name was important to me.” He froze. “Oh god, she died because of me. I killed Mira’s mother.”

Honeydew wrapped his arm around Xephos. “Calm down, you’re exaggerating, I’m sure you didn’t-”

“She came to me for help and I turned her away!” Xephos yelled, pushing Honeydew away from him. “Just because she was poor. Mira…she didn’t grow up with a mother because of me and nothing you can say will change that fact.”

The room was silent, Xephos staring at the ground in disgust at himself. 

“What happened next?” Lalna’s voice broke the quiet and Xephos looked up.

“What?”

“You said you were sent on a mission, what happened after that?”

 

Xephos paused, trying to remember. “There were other ships towards our destination. There was a fight and everyone’s ships went down, including my father’s." Xephos' nails dug into his legs but he barely felt the physical pain. "I tried to save them, I really did!”

Honeydew nodded. “We know, Xephos. You’re a good person and you can’t blame yourself.”

Shaking his head, Xephos stood up and walked to the window. He rested his head against the cool glass and shut his eyes.

“I had promised Mira I would be back in a few months. I had even snuck out of the house. Now… Now she could hate me.”

Honeydew still couldn’t believe that Xephos had a daughter, it just felt too surreal. Everything had changed too fast. "I don't know her, Xeph, but I don't think she could hate you. She would understand, I'm sure of it."

 

Xephos nodded, still unsure.

"In fact," Honeydew said with a small smile, waiting until Xephos turned around to face him. "When we get to your planet, whatever it's called, you will see for yourself that Mira will forgive you."

"We... we're actually going?" Xephos gasped, moving closer Honeydew. "Please, Honeydew, please tell me it's actually possible. Please."

Lalna and Honeydew shared a long look, a silent question and answer passing between them.

"Of course," Lalna said with a smile, voice strained. "In fact, it will only take a month."

Xephos dissolved into happy tears and Honeydew wrapped his arms around him, shooting Lalna a thankful glance.

Lalna took in a deep breath and began to walk back to his lab. He wasn't needed…

 

Plus he now only had a month to invent space travel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to MildlyInsane for helping me with this :)


	8. Tenebrae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say how awesome you people are for actually reading this (I mean, if you have been reading). Thank you :)

 

 

"We have a problem."

 

Honeydew turned from the chest to face Lalna who has holding a large stack of paper.

"What are you-" Honeydew began before Lalna cut him off by dropping the sheets on the table, creating a small thud.

"The odds of surviving the space journey are too low," Lalna said, grabbing the top piece of paper and passing it to Honeydew. "There's a one in 10 chance of crashing and burning before we even leave the atmosphere."

Honeydew read over the numbers even though they didn't make any sense to him. "One in 10 doesn't sound so bad."

"That's a 10% chance of fiery death." Lalna rushed, shuffling through more of the paper. "I've tested again and again and this is the best I can do. I'm sorry, Honeydew, but we have to tell Xephos we can't do it."

Honeydew shook his head furiously and crumpled the paper in his tight fist. "We can't! This means so much to Xephos. This isn't about visiting his home anymore, this is about him going back to his family!"

"He can't go back to his family if he dies on the way, can he?" Lalna huffed as he flopped into a nearby chair. "Do you actually want to risk everyone's life when the odds of survival are that low?"

"It wouldn't be everyone's life," Honeydew muttered, looking at the ground. "You don't have to come."

Lalna frowned and looked back at the table. "Actually I would have to. Only I know how to operate the craft."

"Flying a ship successfully would be difficult," Lalna sighed, "but…"

"But what?"

 

Lalna shushed Honeydew as he began to check the doors and windows. He couldn't risk Xephos overhearing the conversation.

 

"I’ve been able to create a device that wipes memory, an improved one from the crash." Lalna whispered excitedly, too excited about his creation. "It’s safe, don’t worry, I tested it."

Honeydew stared at Lalna in horror. “You want to wipe Xephos’ memories?! When he only just got them back?!”

"Quiet!" Lalna hissed. "He’ll hear you"

"Wait…you went to the crash site? I thought we agreed we wouldn’t go looking for it." Honeydew huffed. "You know how Xephos would react if he found out you went near it."

"I know but it was the only way to finish the ship or even get close to starting it! Compared to Xephos’ planet, our equipment and technology is primitive." A light filled Lalna's eyes as he continued. "You should have seen the stuff on there! I couldn't read anything, but I could tell the computers were high power. And the engines!"

 

Lalna dug through the pile of paper and produced a page of messy diagrams. "The engines of my own creation were basic, ineffective. These, on the other hand," he thrust the paper towards Honeydew and gestured with his hands. "They're faster than anything I've ever seen! And resilient too, Xephos’ engines were mostly intact when I recovered them!"

Honeydew rolled his eyes and dropped the paper; there was no stopping an overly excited Lalna. "I thought you said the ship would probably result in death just 4 minutes ago?"

Lalna paused and nodded. "One in ten." He let out a small smile. "Doesn't mean I can't appreciate the craftsmanship of the engines though."

Honeydew groaned and pulled out a chair, plonking himself down onto it. "They’re definitely the best odds?"

Lalna nodded again, shooting Honeydew a sympathetic look. "I know you want to help Xephos but you have to draw the line somewhere." He muttered, stepping closer to rest his hand on Honeydew's shoulder.

"No. I promised him I'd get him back to his planet and that's what I'll do."

 

The room filled with silence for what seemed like hours, neither one wanting to speak. Lalna began to think about his castle and the ship inside of the yard. He wasn't worried about Sjin or Rythian destroying all the work he had spent many sleepless days and nights on; he had his force field.

Suddenly Lalna let out an excited noise and ran to the abandoned pile of papers. "I got it!" he shouted, too excited to keep his voice down. "The reason the ship was unsuccessful was the heat! The heat shields weren't strong enough to deal with the air resistance and so the front began to melt ever so slightly. This caused a small change in the ship's exterior which completely threw off the ship's balance!"

Honeydew stared at the enthusiastic scientist, unsure of what he was saying. "Wait, can you fix that?"

"Of course I can!"

That was the confident Lalna that Honeydew knew and loved.

"I just need to divert enough energy from the engines and computers to power an external force field to prevent damage to the ship." He laughed and hit the table with the palm of his hands. "It's so obvious, how did I not think of this before?!"

 

Before Honeydew could say anything, Lalna was speeding out of the door. He slid round the corner of the work shed and to the nowhere near complete factory."Xephos!" He yelled through the open door. "Come here, we have good news!"

He watched as Xephos shuffled outside, his shoulders slouched. Honeydew's heart twinged as he spotted the bags under the man's bloodshot eyes.

"You really should rest," Honeydew whispered, moving to wrap an arm around the other man. He tried to hide the look of hurt on his face when Xephos shrugged him off.

"Just tell me the news," he sighed, "I want to finish the factory."

Lalna grinned and grabbed Xephos by the sleeve of his coat. "You'll want to see this, I promise you."

"Huh?" Xephos didn't have chance to say much more than that as Lalna dragged him across the courtyard and towards Lalna's castle. Honeydew let out a small but relieved sigh and followed as fast as he could.

 

 

"Whoa."

Both Honeydew and Xephos just stared at the enormous metal structure in front of them. "You..this...I...how.."

Lalna laughed and pushed Xephos closer to the ship. "You do like? I only have to make one modification and then we're free to go."

"To go?" Xephos’ voice was sceptical, as if he was afraid it was too good to be true. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be."

Xephos grinned and pulled Lalna into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you so very much. You have no idea how much this means to me," Xephos rushed, tears escaping for the first time since his memories returned. "Just tell me what I can do to make it up to you and I'll do it."

Lalna shook his head and nudged Xephos away. "You can make it up to me by getting into the ship."

"Now?" Xephos gasped, glancing at Honeydew who was staring at the metal monster.

"Yes, now!" Lalna laughed, walking over to the spaceship and opening a hatch on the side. "Don't worry, I've packed enough food and water for months."

Xephos nodded slowly. "What about light?"

"Huh?"

Xephos looked up at the sky as imagining he was somewhere else. "Tenebrae is pitch-black. We won't be able to see in front of us more than a meter if we don't have lights."

Honeydew stood forward. "Lalna, didn't you say you found some glowing crystals the other day? Maybe they would work?"

"They're better than nothing," Lalna sighed. "I'll go get them and the force field. You and Xephos should get in the ship."

Honeydew smiled and nodded, holding Xephos' hand as they climbed into the ship. Most of the room inside the ship contained unmarked wooden crates and equipment so it was a tight squeeze. They awkwardly shifted until they were comfortable in the limited space they had.

"Are you excited, friend?" Honeydew asked after a long silence. Xephos held Honeydew's hand tighter and stared at the grey wall.

"To be honest, I'm terrified. I have no idea how they will treat me when I return and.." Xephos bit his lip. "And I don't know how they will treat you."

"Me?" Honeydew asked as he watched Lalna work.

"You and Lalna. They weren't really the most welcome to people from the same planet of them so I don't know how tolerant they'd be of alien species."

Honeydew laughed and playfully elbowed Xephos. "You're the alien,  Xeph'."

"On Tenebrae, you're the alien." Xephos replied, smiling slightly. "That will be new."

 

"Okay," Lalna's voice interrupted the two men, causing them to turn to the small window. They watched as Lalna stepped away from the panel, wiping grease and oil on his lab coat. "I've checked everything and I'm pretty sure they all work." He said, laughing at the end. "Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be," Honeydew muttered, watching Xephos carefully while gripping his seat as hard as he could with his free hand. He wasn't going to admit that he was terrified of flying. Xephos' smile trembled as the engine roared and the lights inside the cabin flickered to life. The door creaked open and Lalna entered.

"Here, add these to the helmets over there." Lalna pointed to the corner full of equipment with a hand full of glowing white crystals. "Oh, you should probably put on the whole suit if you want to breathe outside the ship." Lalna's giggle at the end of the sentence didn't comfort Honeydew but he grabbed the suits anyway and passed one to Xephos.

"I have to go to the cockpit so just shout when you're ready." Lalna smiled at Xephos and shut the door. A hiss echoed around the cabin as the airtight seal activated around the door.

"Honeydew," Xephos whispered as he zipped up his white suit. "I'm terrified."

Honeydew nodded and held his helmet with shaking hands. "It will be alright. You've been in space many times, just think of all the times you didn't crash." His laugh at the end didn't sound at all reassuring

Xephos nodded and looked down at his own helmet in his lap. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Lalna! We're ready!"

In reply to Xephos the engines roared louder and Honeydew felt his heart hit the bottom of his chest. He wanted to stand up and scream until Lalna let him off but he forced himself the sit still; he wasn't going to ruin this for Xephos.

The sound of static filled the cabin as Lalna began to count down.

 

"10."

Honeydew took in a deep breath.

"9"

His nails dug into his palm.

"8."

He began to regret meeting Lalna.

"7."

His eyes flickered to Xephos.

"6."

He was so sure he was going to throw up.

"5."

Xephos looked like Honeydew felt.

"4."

Why did the countdown have to be so long?

"3."

Honeydew just wanted to get it over with.

"2."

Did Honeydew imagine the rattling sound?

"1."

He really hoped he had imagined it.

"0!"

 

Honeydew and Xephos were launched forwards as the ship gained speed and thrust upwards. The dwarf wasn't sure who was screaming but he didn't really care enough to check. He needed all the concentration he could muster up so that he didn't spill his stomach over the probably expensive equipment.

As quickly as it started, it stopped.

"Friend? Are you okay?" Xephos' voice rung through his ears and Honeydew must have had his eyes closed because he couldn't see a thing.

"Is it over?" Honeydew moaned, his eyes slightly cracked open to see Xephos' face above his. Xephos smiled weakly and helped Honeydew off of the floor.

"You forgot to put on your seatbelt." Xephos explained as he passed Honeydew his helmet. "It wouldn't have been that bad if you hadn't been thrown to the floor."

Honeydew groaned and held his stomach. "This is horrible! How did you deal with this?"

Xephos laughed and wrapped an arm around Honeydew. "It will pass," he promised, "Do you need a sick bag or?"

"No, no, I'm fine," Honeydew said after taking a deep breath. "I can't even feel the ship moving anymore."

"Don't worry," the speakers crackled as Lalna spoke from the cockpit. "We're travelling about 150,000 miles per hour so we're definitely moving."

Xephos laughed when Honeydew groaned and closed his eyes. "I didn't need to know that." Honeydew sighed. While shooting through the void of space was making him more than uneasy, hearing Xephos laugh for the first time in months made it worth it. "Are we nearly there?"

Xephos' laughter cut off and he watched the speakers intently for Lalna's answer.

 

"From the co-ordinates that Xephos gave me, it should take about 4 Minecraftian hours," Lalna explained. "You may want to nap to pass the time and so that you are alert when we land."

Honeydew knew he wouldn't be able to sleep and he seriously doubted that Xephos would be able to either.

"What about you?" He asked as he stood up to stretch. "Don't you need to sleep too?"

Lalna's laugh rang through the speakers. "Don't worry about me. I'm used to the lack of sleep."

The speakers clicked off and left an awkward silence. Honeydew turned to Xephos who was staring out of the window.

"See anything you recognise?" Honeydew whispered, not wanting to break the quiet. Xephos jumped slightly before he shook his head.

"No," he sighed, hand pressed against the window. "The ship is moving too fast."

Honeydew nodded and sat back down. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" Xephos replied, still not looking at Honeydew.

"You know exactly what. Come on, Xeph'. We're friends, aren't we?"

Xephos hesitated. "Yes, but.."

"No buts," Honeydew said firmly, staring at the back of Xephos' head. "Sit down here and tell me what's on your mind."

Xephos sighed and finally turned away from the window. He trudged back towards Honeydew and slumped into the seat.

 

"I'm nervous," Xephos muttered as he faced Honeydew. "My people aren't going to be happy that I've been gone so long and..."

He ran a hand through his hair. "You can't judge them for what I'm about to say, okay? They were desperate and it was only one person's idea. I don't think they would have actually done it."

 Honeydew stayed quiet and nodded.

"I told you the reason I was flying was because I was looking for fuel, right?"

Again, Honeydew nodded.

"I did that because they wanted to try something different otherwise, something that makes me sick just thinking about it." Xephos took in a shuddering breath. "There was a man, I don't remember his name and I don't want to, and he suggested we use the "lesser species" as fuel." Of course, he knew it was his own father that had suggested it, but he wasn't going to tell Honeydew that. He didn't want him to know he was related to such a terrible person.

Honeydew's eyes widened and he placed a hand on Xephos' shoulder. "Like making them run on treadmills to generate power? That's not fair!"

Xephos shook his head. "No, you don't understand. He wanted to use the poor people _as_ fuel."

The room seemed like it was spinning to Honeydew as he stared at the wall. "You...I...you have to be lying."

Xephos let out a humourless laugh. "I wish I was."

"Would they have gone through with it?" Honeydew was almost scared to ask.

"I don't know," Xephos sighed, staring at Honeydew. "I wasn't going to stand there and watch it happen so I volunteered to lead the army to find more fuel."

Honeydew nodded and removed his hand from Xephos' shoulder. "So that's why you're nervous? In case they went through with it?"

Xephos nodded slightly. "That and I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"You have to understand, my planet was strict. It's not like Minecraftia where you can do whatever you want as long as you're not hurting someone. No, there are harsh rules and even harsher punishments." Xephos smiled at the memory of Minecraftia and the days he spent with Honeydew. The smile was wiped off of his face as he continued. "I'm returning after many years without fuel and most if not all of my men dead. Saying they wouldn't be happy would be an understatement."

Honeydew hid the terror he was feeling. "You don't think they would hurt you, do you? I mean, you were a Captain, right? Don't you have some power?"

"Honeydew..." Xephos whispered. "I'm not scared of what they'll do to me."

"Then what are you-" Honeydew cut himself off suddenly and his head whipped up. "Your family."

Xephos nodded and stared out the window. "I'm hoping they assumed I was dead. That way they would have no reason to punish them."

"But they will know you're not dead when we land." Honeydew said, his voice full of worry. "What will stop them killing you then?"

Xephos shrugged. "I have a plan."

The unnatural calmness from Xephos wasn't helping Honeydew's nerves. Now he knew why Xephos didn't want to talk.

"Don't worry, friend," Honeydew said with a smile. "We'll stick by you and make sure nothing happens to you or your family."

Xephos nodded and faked a smile. "Thank you."

 

"I'd hate to interrupt but there's a planet close by," Lalna's voice crackled from static. "Xephos, I need you to come in here."

Xephos stared at Honeydew in horror before clambering from his seat and to the door. Honeydew was tempted to follow but he stayed where he was; he knew he wasn't needed there.  After only a few minutes, Xephos burst through the door.

"It's Tenebrae." Xephos said with a shaky voice. "It's actually...I...we're landing and I..."

Honeydew rushed to Xephos and helped him sit down. He fastened Xephos' seatbelt before doing his own. He reached down to grab their helmets and put Xephos' on for him.

"Are you ready?" An overly excited voice echoed through the speakers. "Here we go!"

Honeydew soon found out that landing was so much worse than taking off. This time his head was thrown back and he was sure his heart had stopped beating right then. He could hear Xephos mutter curse words under his breath. He didn't recognise most of them so he guessed they were in his own language.

He held onto the welcome distraction from the unwelcome motions, trying his hardest to listen to the words that fell from Xephos' rapidly moving lips as the ship gained speed and shook faster.

The ship jolted violently and Honeydew felt the cabin spin.

"What's happening?!" Honeydew shouted as boxes tumbled and hit him. "Lalna!"

"Everything's under control!" Lalna yelled back, the increase in static making him hard to hear. "I just didn't account for the roughness of the ground."

Honeydew groaned as the ship ran over a large bump and caused him to jump in his seat. "Just make it stop!"

"I'm trying!"

Xephos sprung into action. He undid his seatbelt and grabbed onto a shelf to help himself up.

"What are you doing?!" Honeydew yelled, reaching to grab Xephos. "Sit back down!"

Xephos ignored Honeydew and threw open the door to the cockpit. Honeydew heard shouting before the ship skidded to a halt. The lights above him flickered and died.

"Okay," Xephos panted, walking back into the cabin. "That wasn't fun."

Honeydew let out a nervous giggle and undid his seatbelt with shaking hands. "You can say that again."

"I don't know, guys," Lalna's head poked through the doorframe. "I thought it was interesting."

Xephos let out an exasperated sigh and made sure his helmet was fastened properly.

"Can we go?" he said impatiently as he searched the boxes. "And do you have any weapons?"

"Weapons?" Lalna stepped closer and put on his own helmet. "Yeah, why?"

Xephos pulled out a diamond sword and began to inspect it. "If it's dark then there will be monsters. I'm not sure if we will have light bright enough to repel them."

Lalna nodded. "Oh, so it's like on Minecraftia? Bad things spawn in the dark?"

"Not entirely," he muttered, putting the sword on the floor and rooting through another box. "They live in the darkness and hate light. We've never gotten close enough to study one but we think it burns them or something."

"Then you'd want a laser as a weapon."

Lalna nudged Xephos away from the box to pull out 3 weird hand size boxes. "I wouldn't rely on these too much, I never tested them as much as I should have."

Xephos muttered a thanks as he inspected the laser. Honeydew took his own laser and picked up a bag of food.

"If we see anyone then let me do the talking," Xephos said, picking up the discarded diamond sword. "Also don't let them see your eyes. If they see they don't glow then they'll assume you're a monster."

Honeydew nodded and walked to the door. "Of course we're going to let you do all the talking. You're the only one who speaks the language."

Lalna laughed and wrapped an arm around Xephos' tense shoulders. "Aren't you excited? You get to see your planet again!"

Xephos smiled and nodded, avoiding eye contact with Honeydew. "Yeah, let's go."

The door hissed once more as it slid open.

 

"Whoa." Honeydew stepped out of the ship and looked around, the glowing crystals attached to his helmet lighting up where he looked. "Is this the city?"

Xephos frowned as he looked around. He messed with the catches on his helmet before deciding not to take it off. Something didn't feel right.

"Yeah, well, it's the Demitto District." he said, turning towards Honeydew. "It's empty."

Honeydew tilted his head. "Is this the poor part of the city?"

The small nod of Xephos' head caused dread to fill Honeydew's stomach.

"We better get moving." Lalna muttered, walking ahead of them both. "Xephos, you don't have to wear your helmet, you know. It's your own atmosphere."

Xephos nodded but made no effort to remove it. "Turn left, Lalna."

Lalna stopped and turned to Xephos. "I thought you said lights covered the city?"

"They do, well, only the rich part," Xephos said bitterly. "They removed them from here to save energy."

"But the monsters.." Lalna started but Xephos interrupted.

"Do you really think the rich cared?"

Lalna frowned and began walking again. "You said left, didn't you?"

Xephos fell back to walk next to Honeydew. "This isn't good," he whispered, "this place is normally bustling with people."

"I'm sure they're fine, Xephos." Honeydew reassured Xephos but even he didn't believe his own words. "Maybe the government had a change of heart?"

"Yeah, maybe." Xephos muttered, wishing with all his heart that it was true.

They walked in silence through the empty and pitch-black district, the only light from the strange crystals.

Xephos and Honeydew almost crashed into Lalna when he stopped abruptly.

"Why did you stop?" Honeydew grumbled, rubbing his sore arm.  "You could have given warning."

"Honeydew," Xephos whimpered, grabbing his arm. "Look."

 

Honeydew wished he hadn't. In front of them was a crater with hundreds if not thousands of mutilated bodies piled on top of each other. He saw smoke rise from the center and he was sure that if he removed his helmet that he would smell the putrid odour of burning flesh. Just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, he noticed small bodies near the top that could have only belonged to babies and small children, their glassy eyes staring up at him.

"Oh god." It was all Honeydew could manage without vomiting. He had seen many gruesome and disgusting things, but this topped the list. Xephos stood paralysed next to the pit, his grip on Honeydew's arm tightening with each passing second.

"Let's go, Xeph'," Lalna muttered, pulling him along. "It's okay."

Xephos was visibly shaking as he stumbled with Lalna, far away from the horrific pit in the centre of the district. Honeydew helped move Xephos along, wanting to get as far away as possible.  They had to stop after just a few minutes as Xephos' legs stopped supporting his own weight.

"Xephos, take deep breaths." Honeydew ordered, sitting him down on the floor. "You need to calm down, it's okay."

Xephos nodded and tried to control his breathing. "They...they actually-"

"Don't talk, just breath in and out," Lalna said, rubbing Xephos' back in a calming motion.

Honeydew looked around and saw that most of the buildings around them were destroyed and reduced to rubble. A piece of paper trapped under a sheet of metal caught his attention. He gently pulled it from under the rubble. He looked over it quickly with a frown. It just looked like an odd mixture of lines and circles to him. He waited until Xephos could breath properly again before passing the paper to him.

“Xephos, can you read this?”

Xephos held the paper so tight that it ripped around the edge. He knew exactly what it said and it didn’t fill him with hope.

“It’s a notice. It says…” a lump formed in Xephos' throat. “it says 'Members of the Lux District should stay away from the Demitto District following the light festival.'"

"I don't get it." Lalna muttered, staring at the note in Xephos' hands.

"They wanted to make sure they weren't going to slaughter any of their own," Xephos explained, his voice shaking. "They only wanted to kill what they saw as the sub species."

Honeydew and Lalna shared a horrified look as they remembered the large pit of bodies.

"But why?" Lalna asked but he was sure he didn't want to hear the answer.

Xephos shook his head. "I don't know," he lied.

Lalna nodded and looked around. “I guess that explains the buildings.”

Xephos' grip on the notice tightened.

 

Honeydew glanced at Xephos quickly, wanting to comfort his friend but also being unsure how to. "We can take it up with the government once we're in the main city." Honeydew said, placing a hand on Xephos' shoulder. "We won't let them get away with this."

"You're right," Xephos replied, face void of emotion, "I guess it's better to confront them sooner or later."

Honeydew and Lalna shared a look. Before Honeydew or Lalna could stop him, Xephos raced down the abandoned streets. Honeydew ran as fast as he could after him. He could barely keep up as Xephos rushed around buildings and over rubble. He looked back to make sure Lalna was following, turning back in time to see Xephos skid to a halt and collapse to his knees.

"You should have waited. We..." Honeydew's voice trailed off when he spotted Xephos kneeling on the ground, hands planted firmly on the ground as his body wracked with sobs. Honeydew didn't need to ask why, the crater in front of them was enough.

"Is this your house?" Honeydew asked quietly, moving to place a hand on Xephos' shoulder. The other man's silence was answer enough.

"Honeydew," Lalna finally caught up to Honeydew and lowered his voice. "You stay with Xephos, I'll search the house..." He looked back at Xephos. "Well, what's left of it."

Honeydew nodded and sighed. "Be careful. You don't know what's in there." He watched as Lalna jumped into the crater and began to rummage through the debris.

"Do you want to talk?" Honeydew asked cautiously, not wanting to upset Xephos further. He was relieved when Xephos finally looked up at him but the relief was short lived.

"Honeydew.." Xephos voice cracked before he dissolved into tears, ripping off his helmet and throwing it to the side. "I can't..I..."

"Shhh, it's okay," Honeydew gathered Xephos up into his arms and let him sob. "They'll be okay," he whispered, "The other houses around us are destroyed too. This means that they weren't attacking your family, it means they are safe."

Xephos didn't say a word and his shoulders shuddered with each painful breath.

 

"Honeydew!"

Lalna ran up the side of the crater, a look of pure horror on his face. "You need to see this."

Xephos ripped himself from Honeydew and jumped down into the hole. Lalna tried to hold him back but to no avail. Honeydew rushed after him.

 

"Oh no."

Honeydew watched with a heavy heart as Xephos clung to something, pained howls echoing through the eternal night.

 

"Please tell me it's not." Honeydew begged Lalna, not wanting to watch but unable to turn away.

Lalna shook his head as his own tears fell down his face. "No, it's her."

Honeydew stepped closer but Lalna held onto him.

"Don't. He needs to be alone." Lalna said quietly, trying to pull Honeydew back. Honeydew ripped his arm from Lalna's grasp.

"Alone?!" He hissed. "He's just found out his family is dead! Do you really think he wants to be alone?!"

"It's not just his family, Honeydew." Lalna muttered, stepping closer. "You've seen all the buildings but have you seen a single light? Think about it. Does it look like anyone has lived here for a while?"

Honeydew stared at Lalna with an open mouth. "No,  they're alive, they have to be." His own voice cracked as he thought about Xephos finding out. "He would have nothing left!"

Lalna flinched as Xephos' screams continued. "We can't change anything, Honeydew." he said, his voice full of defeat. "The best we can do is be there for him when he's ready to talk."

Honeydew glanced over to Honeydew and saw the small, limp arm. "Fuck, she was just a child, Lalna."

"I know." Lalna shook his head. "It's sick."

 

They stood together, just watching Xephos hold Mira and brush back her hair as if she was still breathing, as if she was about to stand up at any moment and hug her daddy.

"I can't watch this." Honeydew cried, looking down at the floor. "It's not fair!"

Lalna sat down on the floor, his legs too shaky to support him. "Life isn't fair, Honeydew." he muttered, wishing with all his heart that it was fair so he didn't have to see his friend like this.

 

"Do you have it?" Honeydew whispered to Lalna, his voice cracking at the end. When the scientist looked confused, Honeydew added, "the device."

Lalna nodded solemnly and reached into his pocket. “Are you sure? You did say-“

Honeydew nodded, his next words shaky. “I know what I said but it’s for the best. Whoever said it was better to have loved and lost was a liar.”

He took the device from Lalna. “There’s nothing in tomorrow for him like this. If he didn’t remember any of this then he could have a good life, a happy life. It’s for the best,” Honeydew said as if he was trying to convince himself.

"It’s for the best."

Lalna held him back. "Wait." he begged. "Xephos wouldn't want this. He'd want to remember his daughter."

"Do you really think he could be happy like this, Lalna?!" Honeydew yelled, pointing towards Xephos who hadn't moved from his position. "You saw how he's been for the past months since he remembered! It would only be worse this time!" Honeydew lowered his voice. "I'm scared of what he would do."

"Honeydew, you can't think that he'd-"

Honeydew shrugged off Lalna. "It's for the best."

Lalna bit his lip and nodded. "It's the red button." he said as he stepped back. "Make sure the arrow is aiming forward."

Honeydew glanced at Lalna, almost pleading with him to forgive him, before stepping closer to Xephos.

 

"My pumpkin, my Mira," Xephos whimpered, rocking her back and forth gently. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I promised, I'm sorry."

Honeydew took a deep breath and pointed the device at Xephos' head.

"I'm sorry, friend." Honeydew whispered as his thumb pressed the button.

 

And for the second time in Xephos’ life, everything went blank.

 

 


	9. Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somebody asked to see the happy ending on tumblr so I decided to post it. It's pretty messy as it's only a draft but I hope you enjoy anyway. This isn't the real ending, though, sorry!

"Whoa." Honeydew stepped out of the ship and looked around, the glowing crystals attached to his helmet lighting up where he looked. "Is this the city?"

Xephos could only nod as he finally saw the small lights for the first time in what seemed like forever. He couldn't help but note that they seemed brighter than he remembered.

"It's beautiful," Lalna whispered as he stood next to Honeydew. "There's so many lights."

Xephos wiped away the tears that managed to fall and turned to Honeydew. "Thank you," his voice shook as he spoke. "You have no idea how much this means."

Honeydew smiled and nodded. "Xephos, I'm pretty sure I know how much this means to you. Now come on, let's go find Mira!"

Xephos' laugh of pure joy seemed to be infectious as both Lalna and Honeydew couldn't help but join in.

"We can get there faster if we cut through here, come on!"

Suddenly Xephos was off, weaving around tall buildings and occasionally looking back to make sure Honeydew and Lalna were following.

 

Without warning, Xephos stopped.

"Wait, guys." He looked around at the lights. "This...it's the Demitto District."

Lalna and Honeydew finally caught up.

"So?" Lalna panted, trying to get his breath back after the large amount of running. "You can give us a tour after we find your daughter."

"No, you don't get it," Xephos wore a giddy smile as he turned to face Lalna. "The lights are on."

Honeydew understood. "They changed their mind?" he gasped, watching as Xephos wiped away fresh tears. "They actually changed their mind?"

Xephos nodded and laughed in shock. "They must have!"

This time Honeydew was dragged along when Xephos took off again through the empty streets. The lack of people almost worried Honeydew but it was hard to worry when his friend was so happy.

 

"Xephos?!"

Xephos skidded to a halt and turned around. He looked confused before he spotted a figure in one of the open windows. He froze and dropped Honeydew's hand.

"Oh my." The woman who had shouted Xephos' name threw open her door and ran outside. She dissolved into tears and grabbed his shoulder. "It's actually you. I thought I was seeing things." She carried on blabbering before Xephos pulled her into a hug. The women seemed to be confused at the sign of affection but closed her glowing blue eyes anyway.

"I missed you so much, mother."

Honeydew hid his gasp behind his hand and stepped back towards Lalna.

"I thought you were dead!" She cried, pulling away. "We all did! Merak came back and said that your ship went down and so did your fathers!" Her eyes widened and her grip on Xephos' shoulder tightened. "Where's your father?!"

Xephos' smile fell and his eyes fell to the ground. "I'm sorry."

There was an awkward silence as Xephos' mother wiped away her own tears and her son's. "It wasn't your fault," she whispered, "It was the military's."

"Don't say that out loud!" Xephos hissed, eyes flickering to the side out of habit. "They'll hear you!"

The women laughed and Xephos stared at her in shock. He had never heard her laugh before in his entire life.

 

"They no longer exist," she explained, a smile plastered to her face. "After news of your death travelled, Procyon convinced the leader to put your father's plan into effect." Her smile fell. "I never knew they even considered doing that, let alone actually doing it."

"Did they?" Xephos was terrified to ask but he had to know. He felt his friend's stares on him but at the moment he couldn't care less.

She shook her head. "People found out what they had planned and they did not take it well. There was a huge civil war."

Xephos' eyes flickered to the lights. "The people won," he said, not believing it himself. "They actually won."

His mother smiled and nodded. "People live equally now. Well, as equal as we're going to get."

It was almost like a dream. All his worst fears about the fate of his planet seemed to be ridiculous now as he looked around and saw the smiling face of his mother.

"Where is she?" Xephos asked, his voice cracking. "Please, I need to see her."

Xephos' mother smiled and invited Xephos inside. He turned around and motioned for his friends to follow. They shared a look before stepping inside, still suspicious of the new planet.

 

"Grandmother! Have you seen my blue dress?" A familiar voice travelled from upstairs. "I can only see my purple one!"

Xephos couldn't stop the tears as he heard his daughter's voice for the first time in years.

"Mira! Come down! Someone's here to see you!"

Xephos' hands shook as the sounds of footsteps echoed through the hallway.

"If it's Arago tell him I'm going the festival with-" She cut off as she reached the top of the stairs. "I...you..."

 

There she was. She looked much older than he remembered but he knew it was her. She still had her beautiful purple eyes and the adorably chubby cheeks.

"Hi, Pumpkin," Xephos choked out as he stared at the top of the stairs. Mira was sobbing as she ran into her dad's arms, holding onto his waist tightly.

"I told them you'd be back!" She cried, her tears staining Xephos' blue and white shirt. "They said you were dead!"

"I'm sorry, I'm so so so sorry!" He buried his nose in her hair. "I shouldn't have left, I'm sorry."

She pulled back and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. "You've been gone 4 years, daddy," she whimpered, her free hand gripping onto his shirt so he couldn't escape. "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he whispered, brushing back her hair. "So very much."

Mira nodded and hugged her dad as tight as she could. "Please don't leave again. I need you."

Xephos nodded and held her just as tight. "Don't worry, I'll never leave again, Pumpkin."

 

Honeydew and Lalna shared a short look and Honeydew nodded. He stepped forward and tapped Xephos on the shoulder. Mira squeaked and hid behind her father.

"Xephos," Honeydew rested his hand on Xephos' shoulder and smiled sadly. "It's been an honour adventuring with you."

"I'm sorry, friend." Xephos whispered, pulling him into a hug. "I enjoyed every moment with you, I swear."

"Yeah, me too, mate." Honeydew forced himself not to cry. "Promise you'll visit?"

"I..yeah." Xephos nodded and bit his lip. "Yes, of course. I love you, friend."

"I love you too, you big softie!" Honeydew laughed and stepped away. Lalna pulled a small device out of his lab pocket. "It's a radio," he explained, passing it to Xephos. "So you can keep in contact with us."

Xephos grinned and held it in his hand tightly. "Thank you so much, for everything."

Lalna nodded and no other words needed to be said. They shut the door behind them, leaving Xephos back with his own family and back home.

 

"So, Lalna," Honeydew said when they were finally back on the ship. "What do you say to finally making Jaffa Cakes?"

Lalna laughed and opened the cockpit's door. "I say let's do it."

 

Honeydew smiled and fastened his seatbelt. Although it hurt to leave Xephos behind, he knew it was the right thing to do. And if it was the right thing to do, how could he feel sad?

His friend was finally happy and so was Honeydew.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry, the chapters will get longer. This was more of an introduction.


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